Customer Reviews

Searching for A Starry Night

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Gripping, surprising, and leaving you wanting more are a few ways to describe "Searching For A Starry Night". It's a must read for mystery loving teens. As Sam Carlton and her friend Lita are searching to solve this mystery, of what happened when her Aunt Hilda's art mysteriously vanishes, you'll be shocked at the twists and turns Christine Verstraete leads you through. With her talent to bring these characters to life, chills are sent down your spine, and your adrenaline will start pumping, when you visit this old Victorian house in Wisconsin, to figure out this miniature art mystery.- Lily Huber age 13, 8th grade

I really like reading mystery stories. It is also my belief that for young people to read good mysteries written for their age level not only is a pleasant pasttime but also may help them develop critical thinking skills. They can search for clues in the plot and try to find the answers that will help to solve the problem. Having grown up with the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, I think that author Christine Verstraete has provided a worthy addition to this genre with Searching For A Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery.

Samantha Ann Carlton, better known as Sam, and her friend Lita, both age 13, go for a week with Sam's mother Grace to settle up affairs at the Wisconsin home of Grace's Aunt Hilda, who was a professional artist and art collector but had recently passed away at the age of ninety. Grace plans to donate most of the Aunt Hilda's miniature paintings to museums, but while there, they find that one of the paintings, a miniature reproduction of The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, is missing and was replaced by a cheap imitation. Sam and Lita, who enjoy sleuthing, set out to find the lost piece of art. There are three main suspects: Mrs. Ursula Drake, the crabby housekeeper; Mr. Jensen, the mysterious gardener; and Emma Taylor, a local librarian, all of whom were taught painting by Aunt Hilda.

The book follows the activities of Sam and Lita, accompanied by a mischievous dachsund named Petey, as they investigate and ends with a surprise conclusion. It is well written, very exciting, and hard to put down, especially with the spooky old Victorian house, stories of an ancestor who died while burning the barn to exorcise demons then was said to have been seen as a ghost, scary goings-on at night, and a lot of suspense. In addition to being a nice story, it has a great deal of interesting and educational information about art in general and specifically about miniature paintings. I really enjoyed the book and look forward to seeing it in bookstores.
Reviewed by: Wayne S. Walker, SFC Book Reviewer

The book in ebook format is a finalist in the children's/ya category for the 2009 Eppie Awards.

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Searching for A Starry Night

Samantha Carlton, Her Mom, And Sam's Best Friend, Lita along With Petey, The Hyper Dachshund Went To Help Grace Carlton Put Hilda's Affairs In Order And To Close Up Her Huge Scary Victorian House. Sam's Mom Had Missed A Miniature Van Gogh Painting Entitled Starry Night That Was Not In The Boxes That Were Being Donated To The Museum And She And Lita Had Been Roped Into Help Search For It Instead Of Sunning On A Beach. Sam Prided Herself On Being The Next Nancy Drew And Vowed To Find That Painting Or Turn In Her Junior Detective Badge!

Their First Encounter Was With The Former Housekeeper Who Was A Tad Shy Of Being Rude And Because Of Her Sly Actions, Sam Put Mrs. Drake On The Top Of Her Suspect List. Mrs. Drake Had The Run Of Aunt Hilda's Home And Every Key, And When She Secretly Took A Doll House Out Of Hilda's Home Sam Was Sure That Starry Night Was In It......

Christine Verstraete Tells A Delightful Young Adult Story That They Will Like As Well As Adults Will Enjoy. Searching For A Starry Night Is Very Entertaining, Especially With The Lovable Petey Stealing The Show! Sam Learns A Valuable Lesson By Frightening Her Best Friend So Badly That She Could Not Sleep And Sam Fears She Will Lose Lita's Friendship. As They Search For Clues To The Missing Painting, Sam Gets A Lesson In The Art Of Miniature Painting. A Good Read For Anyone Who Wants A Laugh.

The characters Sam and Lita have such great chemistry you'd swear that they're real people! A wonderful little mystery with pleasant twists. Great descriptions. I recommend everyone search for that Starry Night.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun read. I think why I liked it so much was it took me back to when I was Sam and Lita's age. Maybe every girl goes through a Nancy Drew phase, I don't know, but I sure did. And I had a fiend like Lita who humored me with all my half-baked schemes. But the mysteries I solved were all make believe. Sam and Lita really had to search for a missing mini. That was the other fun thing about this book: it educated the reader about the world of miniatures and doll houses. Very interesting. I'm hoping this is the beginning of more Sam and Lita (and Petey!) mysteries by Ms. Verstraete. Very entertaining!

Christine Verstraete is a very talented artist as well as a very clever author indeed. Her book Searching For A Starry Night not only has twist and turns of being a good sleuth but also offers education into art. The book had a flow of anticipation that kept Sam and Lita on their toes to think outside the box to discover more clues of finding whodunit. Searching For A Starry Night is a book to be enjoyed by all ages.
Janet

What a Great Mystery!! I grew up reading Mysteries such as the Nancy Drew & the Hardy Boys, I even remember reading the book Stranger with My Face by Lois Duncan and I must say that the author Christine Verstraete has provided me & my daughters with a wonderful mystery that we shared together as I read to them before bedtime. Her book Searching For A Starry Night, is a great Mystery full of details that any miniaturist & non Miniaturist would enjoy (Young & Old).

We were totally wrapped up in this Great mystery. I even shared it with other friends of mine. Each character was well developed and the nights I read the story to my girls, they would not fall asleep until I stopped reading for the night and left the room because it was a story that captures and holds your attention (No matter your age). We felt that we were right there with the characters as they unraveled the mystery behind the missing dollhouse painting "The Starry Night".

Searching For A Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery - also available in ebook form (and coming in Kindle) - was named a finalist in the children's/YA ebooks category for the 2009 Eppie Award from the Epic Ebook Foundation. Winners will be chosen in March '09 at the Epic Conference in Las Vegas.

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Searching For A Starry Night is a mystery about a missing miniature Van Gogn painting. Best friends, Samantha and Lita, work together to solve this mystery with the help of Samantha's mischievous Dachshund, Petey, who unknowingly helps "dig" up important clues.
The setting takes place in an old Victorian house complete with creaks and strange noises creating a spooky atmosphere where your imagination runs rampant. As the characters come to life, it becomes harder to solve the mystery and even harder to put the book down. Who has stolen the miniature art? The librarian, the housekeeper, and the gardener are all convincing suspects.
As you are trying to solve this mystery, you are not aware that you are learning interesting and educational information about art. What a great bonus.
After you have read this book, I guarantee you will be looking forward to Samantha's, Lita's, and Petey's next sluething adventure.